Blue Chronicles
by Forever Free Evergreen
Summary: Fairy Tail has been known for two things: their destructiveness & their powerful wizards. Alastor is no exception. With powerful magic at his fingertips and an equally destructive partner by his side, the wizard will take on all opponents be they rivals, dark guilds and even the Dark Wizard Zeref himself. R&R
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail just what's written below.

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The boat steadily made its approach towards the small harbor town of Eucalyptus. Despite being a harbor town, its location near the southernmost point of Fiore coupled with it's small populace and the dense, lush forestry surrounding it placed as one of the country's more out-of-the-way places especially with Hargeon further up the country's coast. As such, any boats arriving at their port were usually here for trading purposes.

That did not mean the village did not receive any visitors.

Docked and moored securely, the gangplank had barely lowered before a young man stepped off the ship, his face hidden by the hood of his blue trench coat. Following closely behind the man was an orange tabby cat walking on her hind legs like she was human and dragging along behind a blue denim jacket many times her size.

"Wait up, you guys!" A voice hollered out as a girl suddenly jumped out of the river and ran after them ignoring the water dripping off of her. "Rui! You're dragging my jacket across the dirt again!"

Letting go of the jacket, the tabby cat called Rui pulled out a light pen hidden within the black bandana covering half her furry head and scribbled words in mid air.

'You were the one who threw it off the moment the boat set off' Rui wrote. 'Maybe next time, you will think before going for a swim'

Still dripping wet, the girl glared at the cat as she picked up her jacket.

"Maybe next time, I'll just leave you back at the guild and have Cana watch over you." The girl smirked letting the jacket hang in her grasp as she jogged to catch up to the blue clad teen leaving the tabby cat hissing at her.

"Jeez, Alastor. Is there really a guild all the way out _here_?" She asked of him as the two left the village and started following the dirt road through the forest followed closely by Rui after tucking away her light pen.

"There is. But that doesn't mean you have to tag along, you know." Alastor replied pulling down the hood of his coat letting the girl see the stoic face of her partner.

"But we're a team, you and I- and Rui!" The girl added when said cat suddenly leapt onto her bare shoulder with claws semi-extended to make sure her owner knew she disliked being left out of the 'team'. "Even if she doesn't do anything other than sleep, drink milk or scratch the hell out of my things whenever I do something wrong."

This earned the girl the full extension of Rui's claws digging into her shoulder causing the girl to yelp out loud and jump about as she tried to dislodge the orange tabby. Alastor paid the duo no attention as he kept on walking. He had known the girl for more than six years now and had come to tolerate these random tussles she had with her feline friend as much as he tolerated all the other squabbles back at the guild.

"We've already completed the job, Will. Just swim on back to Magnolia or something. This is what you and Natsu call a boring job." Alastor suggested to the orangette as she and the tabby finished their little duet.

"And miss out on whatever fun you happen across?" Will grinned as she fell in step beside her blue haired buddy.

True, what Alastor was doing was by all means the least exciting type of job Will liked to be on. But, considering the guild they were a part of, things were surely not to go as anyone planned and was likely to end up with a good old fashion rumble happening somewhere along the line. _That_ is what Will was betting on happening while out here in the lush green yonder.

Unfortunately, it did not look like Will was going to win that bet.

After nearly a full hour of walking, there was still no sign of their destination just trees, trees and more trees with healthy abundances of bushes and flowers on either side of the dirt trail. While Will was glad they were going there by foot and not by cart, the lack of something different or any sort of action was starting to get to her usually having the boredom back at the guild nonexistent due to several wizards.

"Allllll...Are we there yet?" Will groaned as they neared the crest of a hill. Her feet were starting to ache and her shoulder was feeling heavy due to Rui taking up residence on it ten minutes into the hike.

"See for yourself." The wizard in blue replied reaching the top of the hill before his partner.

"A simple yes or no would've sufficed…" Will grumbled as she stood beside Alastor and gazed down at the lake that was easily visible from their vantage point along with the settlement on the far side of it.

With eyesight sharper than Alastor's and even Rui, Will easily made out the appearance of the building situated in the settlement's centre and could now fully understand the guild's name.

"So that's Cait Shelter, huh? Doesn't look like much from here." Will commented dryly wondering why her friend would want to come all the way out here to invite such an out of the way guild into the this alliance he was trying to build.

"Quit judging the book by it's cover." Alastor scolded the orangette as they started making their way down towards the lake.

"Yeah, yeah- save the spiel…" Will replied.

She liked the bluette as if he were her brother. The only downside being that Alastor was pretty much a workaholic: if he was not taking jobs, he was studying books of various magic; if not studying magic, he was practicing magic; if not practicing magic, it was something guild related. It was as if the word 'fun' did not exist in Alastor's vocabulary despite efforts from herself and others.

Still, it could be worse: he could be a blue haired version of Erza and everyone knew just how extreme that girl could sometimes go if someone did not intervene.

"Let's just go there and get this-" Will stopped talking as she spotted something happening down at the edge of the lake.

"What's wrong?" Alastor asked noticing Will seemed to freeze up like a bloodhound when it caught sight of it's target.

Will did not reply. Instead, she just grinned before taking off so quickly Rui was literally left hanging in midair for a second before dropping to the ground with a thud before she could react.

"Will!" Alastor called after her but it was too late. She was already at the bottom of the hill and disappearing into the forest towards the lake.

* * *

"Let me go!" The little girl cried as she dangled helplessly from the hand of the large man who just laughed.

"Now why would I want to do that? Don't you know having a hostage always makes getting loot a lot easier?" He cackled as he walked up the gangplank to the commandeered boat.

On the shore and bound to a tree, the boat owner could only look on helplessly as the bandit's small band of followers laughed at their boss' supposed joke. He and the girl had just reached land in order to welcome two wizards from the famous Fairy Tail guild coming to visit when they were suddenly pounced upon by them. Now, it looked like a different group of wizards was going to pay their little community a visit.

"Okay, enough of this. Get on board, you idiots!" The boss ordered to his four subordinates.

"Hey, you!" A female voice hollered out from the direction of the forest causing everyone, bandits and kidnapped child, to turn in the direction of the voice just in time to see Will emerge from the treeline with such speed, none of them had the time to react to her leaping into the air and landing a solid flying kick to the face of the bandit holding the girl sending him crashing into the mast of the boat dropping the girl in the process.

Grinning at the satisfaction of taking down what seemed to be a kidnapper with one move, Will turned to the rest of the bandits still yet to board cracking the knuckles of one hand in preparation for what looked to be a good rumble.

"Okay, which of you goons…" Was all she managed to get out before clenching her mouth shut as a feeling of intense nausea washed over her.

In all her eagerness to jump into the fray, Will had failed to take into account that the boat was not moored at all to the bank and the force of the bandit goon hitting the ship mast had rocked the craft fiercely enough to knock it away from the bank and now drift freely on open water.

"Um...Are you okay?" The girl asked her supposed rescuer who was now curled up clutching her stomach.

"I'm fine...No worries." Will assured the girl although the look on her face said otherwise. "Just as...just as soon as my stomach stops...stops... _-URP_!"

Recovering from the sudden attack, the bandit boss go back to his feet, his face now carrying a perfect footprint of Will's sandal to go to with the large lump on the back of his head. Rubbing the aching appendage, the boss glared daggers down at Will's curled up form.

"The hell! You got a deathwish, punk!?" He demanded picking Will up by her jacket.

Will responded by giving the bastard her best glare. Too bad her motion sickness made it look less scary and more along the lines of pathetic.

Back on dry land, the rest of the bandits were wondering just what the heck had just happened as they watched the boat drift away from them. One minute, this girl had appeared out of nowhere and charge in guns blazing then was all curled up like a little girl the next.

"That idiot. Always thinking with her heart and not her head."

Whipping round at the sound of another unfamiliar voice coming from behind them, the bandits were surprised to see Alastor calmly walk out from the tree line and walk towards them while scratching the back of his head in mild frustration. Despite his non-threatening demeanor, the bandits immediately prepared for combat in case he suddenly decided to lash out like the orangette did on their boss.

"Who the hell are you!?" One of the bandits demanded.

"You friends with that clown who attacked our boss?" Another asked pointing his saber at the bluette in a threatening manner.

Despite being outnumbered four to one, Alastor showed no signs of being intimidated by the display.

"Friends? Well, I guess you could call us that." He replied calmly stuffing one hand into the pocket of his trousers leaving the other hanging limply at his side. "Got a problem with it?"

"Not at all- So long as you get ready for a beatdown for butting in!" One of the bandits declared charging towards Alastor channeling earth magic into his augmented gauntlets.

At the sight of the bulky behemoth running at him, Alastor stood his ground merely curling the first and last two digits of his hand leaving the pointer and index fingers fully extended together.

" _ **Earth-Make: Morning Star!**_ " The bulky bandit chanted calling upon the power of earth magic to turn his clasped hands into a lethal spikeball that he raised above his head to swing down upon Alastor's own as the distance between them diminished.

" _ **Silent Sound!**_ " Five steps from the bandit's range, Alastor's hand became a blur of motion that ended with him pointing at his opponent.

The next second, the burly bandit, whose girth was at least thrice that of Alastor, was sent flying backwards as something as clear as air yet heavy as iron struck him clean in the chest flying passed his stunned fellow bandits before crash landing in a heap a good twenty odd metres away at the base of a stout apple tree. As if to add insult to injury, a single apple fell to hit the bandit atop his head.

"Here! What the bloomin' hell just happened?!" One of the three remaining bandits demanded tightening his grip on his ruby tipped staff.

"What just happened is that this guy just made a huge mistake!" The saber wielding bandit remarked. "Let's show 'im what the consequences are for defying us!"

"Right!" The staff wielder nodded before charging in with the saber wielder following close behind him. " _ **Dynamite Strike!**_ "

With the red jewel of his staff glowing, the bandit swung the staff wildly at Alastor in the hopes of hitting him and activating the spell that would create a small explosion strong enough to take a man's head off. He was not expecting for his opponent to parry his staff with two fingers where the small explosion was somehow redirected to go off in his face.

Assuming Alastor to be not paying attention to him, thereby leaving himself wide open, the saber wielding bandit charged at the wizard's exposed back. His weapon was a Musica Blacksmiths exclusive he had 'acquired' that allowed him to launch a series of attacks at super high speeds and rend asunder his opponents even if they were aware of him.

"Prepare to be sliced and diced, brat! _**Octa-hack!**_ " The bandit called out as Alastor turned to face him.

In the blink of an eye, the bandit had unleashed a combo chain of seven sword slashes. And yet, all the bandit could do was gawk at Alastor who was untouched by a single attack. Had he not been so shocked by seeing someone come out unscathed against an attack that usually had his opponents cut to ribbons, and maybe had a chance to look at his feet before Alastor knocked him flying with the same spell he used on the Earth-Maker mage, he would have seen the two grooves in the dirt his feet made when Alastor used wind magic to push him back.

"And that leaves you." Alastor remarked turning to face the last member of the quartet.

Whereas many people would normally be starting to freak out at seeing their comrades being taken out with relative ease, the final bandit to face Alastor merely cackled. While the other two had taken Alastor head on, and were taken out within seconds, he had held back and began preparing a water magic spell. Fortunately, the spell did not have a long casting time and the bandit was ready for Alastor the moment he turned his attention on him.

"You may have beaten the others, but now you're going to taste some _real_ magic!" The bandit declared as a deep blue magic seal appeared in front of him. " _ **Kraken Gatling!**_ "

From the seal, multiple tentacles of water shot out and speared towards Alastor. With each tentacle as thick as an average man's arm and tipped with a lethal point, a single direct hit could skewer Alastor clean through. Of course, that was assuming Alastor allowed the attack to hit him.

" _ **Heat Geyser!**_ " Alastor chanted calmly with a flurry of hand gestures ending with an upward flick.

Rupturing from the ground in front of the wizard, a pillar of intense heat shot skywards in front of the incoming aqua arrows resulting in a brief cloud of steam as the water attack evaporated leaving Alastor once again unharmed.

"He...stopped my attack. _All_ our attacks!" The bandit whispered in disbelief beginning to pale as he suddenly recognised _who_ he was up against.

Blue hair and coat. Capable of making magic work in ways only few wizards thrice his age could.

"You're _him_!" The bandit croaked backing away from Alastor like he was the reincarnation of Zeref. "Thaumaturge of Fairy Tail!"

"What?! _Thaumaturge_?!" The bandit leader exclaimed catching what his minion had cried out.

Hearing the name the bandit had exclaimed, the little girl poked her head up over the rail of the boat in time to see wizard in question take out the last of the bandits, sans their boss, who had captured her.

Much like Laxus, Titania and the up and coming Salamander, Alastor Branford, aka Thaumaturge, was a well known wizard from the Fairy Tail guild. He was supposedly a powerful wizard, capable of making the surrounding land bend to his magic and combine it with his own magic to unleash spells never heard of before now.

According to Sorcerer's Weekly, Thaumaturge was usually seen accompanied by a girl, another up and coming wizard much like Salamander who people had begun to call _Leviathan_ due to her affinity with water.

"No way…" The bandit muttered looking back at Will who was still hanging from his hand. "This weak little girl's _that_ Leviathan?!"

"I'm gonna make you eat those words!" Will managed to threaten before turning green from her own choice of words.

Ignoring the moaning girl hanging from his outstretched arm, the bandit boss turned his attention back to the wizard on the bank. There was no doubt in his mind that Thaumaturge was going to be coming after him next now that he had defeated his men but, assuming this slip of a girl _was_ his partner Leviathan, he doubted the wizard would attack in fear of harming his own partner. Right?

"Don't come any closer, Thaumaturge!" He called out to Alastor lifting Will up so that the wizard in blue could see her clearly. "You're gonna stay right there until me and the girls here are long gone- unless you want their blood on your hands, that is!"

For a moment, it looked like Thaumaturge was going to comply with his request. For a moment, that is. A few hand gestures later, Thaumaturge unleashed another wind magic spell knocking Leviathan clean out of his grasp and overboard into the watery depths below.

' _He took out his own partner?!'_ The bandit thought in disbelief wondering if he should grab the little girl and try to use her as a shield or just give up now in case he just fired a spell that took them _both_ out.

As he began to reach down for the girl, an explosion from behind caused him to whip round. Following the watery contrails, the bandit was shocked to see Will looking much livelier all of a sudden, not to mention angry, as she floated high in the sky it seemed for a second before falling back down towards the boat.

"I'll show you who's weak!" Will yelled as she pulled her fist back while still falling towards the bandit.

Foolishly just standing there as she came plummeting towards him, the bandit watched as magic and water began gathering around the fist swirling and shaping itself into what could only be described as a drill or cone shape.

From the bank, Alastor made to call out to Will in an attempt to stop her from unleashing her attack. If she were to land that attack-

" _ **Water Dragon's Drilling Fang!**_ " Will yelled as she swung her fist with enough force to knock out a man twice her size.

The blow missed the bandit, instead hitting the deck of the boat right in front of him, but the force of impact was powerful enough the entire craft folded in two like a venus fly trap snapping shut.

Alastor could only groan at his partner's stupidity. At times like this, it was hard to tell who was the greater wreckingball in Fairy Tail as she was definitely on par with Natsu in terms of destructive mayhem- of course, that was without including Erza and Mirajane whenever the two got into one of their little quarrels, although little was not exactly the word he would use to describe it.

Putting aside Will's destructive tendencies aside for the moment, Alastor turned his gaze skyward and was relieved to see that, when the boat was wrecked, the little girl who had been on board also had been sent catapulting into the air although she probably did not think of it as being lucky as she tumbled helplessly through the air towards the ground judging by that panicked scream she was wailing.

"Hold on, kid!" Will called out as she rocketed out of the water once more using her water dragon slayer magic to leave a single, large continuous contrail of water in her wake as she began dipping, diving and spiraling towards dry land. " _ **Water Dragon's River Slide!**_ "

Because of her magic, the 'slide' as Will dubbed it was solid enough that, instead of passing through it when connecting with the water, the little girl was surprised to suddenly find herself following after Will and was soon screaming out with joy despite herself.

"Yeah, that's the spirit, kid!" Will encouraged as she got closer to the ground thinking about finishing off with a loop-de-loop before smirking as a better idea came to mind. "Alastor! Think fast!"

Not understanding what Will was getting at, Alastor only had a second to react as Will landed right in front of him then immediately stepped to the side allowing the younger girl to shoot off the slide and collide with him sending both to the ground. Will was almost on the ground also although this was more from nearly falling over from laughing too hard at the prank she had successfully pulled off.

"Told you to think fast!" Will chortled wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Will…" Alastor growled slowly pulling himself up into a sitting position. A sharp sting and the feeling of something warm flowing down the back of his head indicated he was cut although how bad he could not properly tell.

Bringing a hand that had reflexively wrapped round the little girl to protect her from harm during collisions both with him then the ground, thus preventing him from protecting himself, Alastor hissed as he touched the injury causing the stinging pain to flare.

"Are you okay?"

"It's nothing." Alastor replied to the little girl still sitting on his lap and staring at him with concerned eyes. "Comfy?

Finally realising what she was doing, the girl quickly scrambled off of Alastor mumbling apologies all the while. Alastor merely brushed her off, more concerned with his injury and giving Will a good telling off for being stupid as he made to stand up only to stay seated as a wave of dizziness came over him. It looked like the injury was worse than he thought.

"Um… If you like… I could heal that for you." The girl muttered becoming all quiet and nervous. It was evident that she was upset and probably feeling guilty for what had happened to Alastor.

Despite the headache building, the word heal had caught Alastor's attention. Seeing as the girl had no satchels or pouches on her containing any sort of healing salves, and with no sign of any medicinal herbs in the surrounding area, Alastor was wondering if the girl was referring to healing magic something that was as rare as his own magic and even Will's water dragon slayer magic.

"Alright then. Go ahead." Alastor told the girl.

Gulping, clearly nervous at the thought of using her magic on a famous wizard, the girl's hands shook slightly as she brought them up to the injury at the back of Alastor's head. Watching on from the sideline, Will watched as a soft glowing light covered the girl's hands and Alastor's wound feeling her jaw drop slightly as the wound disappeared in a matter of seconds.

Her surprise was nothing compared to Alastor's. While not being able to see the girl at work, he definitely felt the effects of the magic. The pain was gone, along with the dizziness it was almost as if the injury had never even happened. It usually took a lot to impress Alastor but this girl did just that like it was nothing.

Speaking of whom, the girl was looking at him nervously as if waiting for him to say whether or not she had done a good job or something.

"Nice work." He told her as he stood up without feeling any signs of dizziness or nausea.

"Really?!" The girl asked her nervousness disappearing as her face lit up in what Alastor assumed to be happiness.

"Uh...yeah, really. That magic's supposed to be hard to master yet you made it look easy." Alastor replied honestly.

"Th-thank you." The girl stammered blushing from the praise she had just recieved as she bowed to Alastor. "And thank you also for saving me, Mr 'Thaumaturge Sir."

"Just call me Alastor- and it was this carrothead here who saved you, not me." Alastor added jerking a thumb at Will. "Even if she did almost kill you at the same time."

"Hey! That guy thought I was weak so naturally I had to show him just how weak I really am!" Will defended heatedly.

"By _naturally_ turning something into toothpicks?"

"Shut up! And that spell hurt, by the way!" Will added glaring at Alastor.

"Be glad I didn't use a lightning spell, water woman." Alastor countered easily before tuning out Will's reply as he turned his attention back to the girl who had just stood there watching them in awe. "So, you got a name or shall we just call you kid for the rest of our stay?"

Jumping slightly upon realising she was being talked to by Alastor again, the girl blushed slightly as she bowed once again.

"S-sorry about that. I really wasn't expecting all this to happen and…" The girl trailed off as she realised she was rambling and, after seeing the two wizards look patiently at her decided it was safe to try again. "I'm Wendy Marvell from Cait Shelter. I was supposed to come and meet you halfway and guide you back to my guild but…"

"Ah, don't worry about. In Fairy Tail, things rarely go according to plan." Will assured the younger girl.

"Speak for yourself." Alastor muttered with a roll of his eyes while Wendy seemed to relax at Will's words. "Now that we all know one another, shall we get going?"

"Um...actually...about that…" Wendy started somehow sounding both cheerful yet nervous at the same time. "Because not many people come to visit, the only boats we have are usually dock closer to the village and…"

She trailed off her gaze turning to face the lake shore where what was left of the boat bobbed upon the surface. Like Will said: in Fairy Tail, things rarely go according to plan.

* * *

 _My first foray into Fairy Tail aided by one Greywing44. Fingers crossed I'll do good but only time will tell._

 _Review if possible & until next time_

 _Watch this space & peace out!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer's on chapter 1_

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Wendy Marvel could not believe the day she had been having so far.

This morning, Cait Shelter's Guild Master Roubaul had announced that a wizard from Fairy Tail would be paying them a visit today sometime this afternoon. Just hearing that someone from one of the most well known Guilds in Fiore would be visiting their own small Guild was enough for Wendy to ask if she could be the one to go out and meet the wizards from Fairy Tail before Roubaul could ask for volunteers to go out to Eucalyptus to meet them. Despite his surprise, Roubaul granted the eager young wizard-in-training's request knowing just how big a fan the girl was of Fairy Tail and several of their wizards especially.

Too excited to wait for her best friend, who had told her several times to be patient ever since Roubaul had given her permission to go to Eucalyptus this afternoon to meet the wizards from Fairy Tail and guide them back to the Cait Shelter Guild, Wendy set off for the docks right after lunch and asked one of the boatmen to take her across the lake completely unaware of the danger she would be in the moment she set foot back on land.

As the boat crossed the lake, Wendy kept herself preoccupied by thinking about which wizard or wizards from Fairy Tail she could be meeting. While she would not have minded meeting Erza Scarlet or Mirajane Straus, two of the most powerful female wizards to date, Wendy was more hoping she would be getting to meet Natsu Dragneel and Wilhelmina 'Will' Surefire who, despite not being as popular as some of the more powerful Fairy Tail wizards, shared something in common with her.

By the time the boat had reached the lake bank, Wendy had been too excited and eager to meet the visiting Fairy Tail wizard to check to see if there were any beasts or bandits around and had quickly disembarked only to be suddenly ambushed by a group bandit wizards who had been hiding in wait, if not for her then possibly either someone else from the Guild or maybe for anyone coming to visit the Guild regardless of whether they were part of another Guild or not.

In their clutches, Wendy could do little to escape from them and was worried what would happen to the rest of her Guild when Wilhelmina Surefire herself entered the scene, not that she knew who she was at first in all the confusion. When her supposed rescuer suddenly collapsed after taking out her captor, Wendy was too busy worrying for her to realise another wizard had arrived and taken out the rest of the bandit's minions until the word 'Thaumaturge' caught her attention.

He was not how she pictured 'Thaumaturge' to be, granted all she had to go on was the gossip that the older women giggled about the wizard along with whatever snippets Sorcerer Weekly had about him. He seemed...grumpy. That was the first word that came to mind as she immediately saw the scowl that looked like it was permanently etched into his face. The complete opposite of Will, who almost always had a smile on her face- until she suddenly gotten sick, that is. The only thing that the two had in common from what she saw, was a fondness for the color blue and that was without including 'Thaumaturge's' hair color.

And then, before her very eyes, 'Thaumaturge' attacked Will knocking her clean out of their captor's hand when he tried to use the older girl as a hostage and right out of the boat. Seeing what the wizard had done to his Guildmate, Wendy was beginning to fear what he would do to her captor, and more importantly herself, when Will suddenly shot out of the water looking perfectly fine and really angry with their captor rather than 'Thaumaturge'. Angry enough to destroy their boat with a Dragon Slayer attack and send her flying into the air also.

The next few moments had been a blur but Wendy could have sworn she had been riding a river in _mid-air_ briefly before finding herself slamming into 'Thaumaturge' and sending them both to the ground injuring the blue wizard in the process. In the hopes of making amends for the trouble she had caused, as well as trying to avoid his wrath for harming him, Wendy quickly offered to heal 'Thaumaturge's' injury. The praise she had gotten from the wizard upon healing his injury had left her feeling both surprised and very happy as if she had just been complimented by her Guild Master himself.

Happiness soon made way for nervousness.

Now sitting aboard the makeshift raft the two wizards from Fairy Tail had cobbled together from the remains of the boat Will destroyed, Wendy had just sat herself down and hugged her knees to her chest too nervous, and a tad scared, of the fully fledged wizard in blue beside her to properly marvel at the speed Will was towing the raft through the water by herself. Even though he had praised her skill in healing magic, there was something about 'Thaumaturge' that just screamed out "back off" to her.

As the raft got ever closer to her Guild, Wendy was brought out of her musings by the prodding of the little ginger cat Will had introduced as Rui- _after_ the bandana wearing tabby had scratched the Water Dragon Slayer badly for "discarding her to take out some trash" whatever that meant.

"' _Don't...let...Alastor's...looks...scare...you…He's...really...just...a...big...softy...at...heart'_?" She quietly spoke out what the tabby was writing in the air with one of those light pens, Wendy believed they were called. She wanted to know how a pen could do something like that, along with why Rui could not just speak seeing that she was just like her best friend. But, the question most bugging her that she could not help but ask was: "Um... Can you turn around and write out the rest, please? It's kind of difficult to read what you're writing _back to front_."

Despite being polite about it, Wendy squeaked in fright as Rui lunged at her angrily- apparently the tabby took offence to the young female wizard for saying she could not understand her. Closing her eyes as she braced for the painful reprimand, Wendy cautiously opened her eyes after a few seconds when she did not feel any pain to discover that Rui was just floating right in front of her with paws flailing angrily.

"I'm trying to invite their Guild into an alliance. The last thing I need is you shredding up one of their members just because she said something about you." 'Thaumaturge' said to the prisoner of his wind sphere prison before turning to Wendy who was looking at him in a mixture of surprise and awe. "Don't mind her- she does that to everyone who says that. It's why everyone in Fairy Tail can read backwards so fluently."

Wendy could only nod, her mind and attention too caught up at looking from Rui still suspended in mid-air in her little magic prison to the wizard who had cast it in what appeared to have been the blink of an eye. He did not appear to be angry, a little irritated at best perhaps, but not enough to warrant a hex that could knock her right off the boat like he did to Will earlier. Perhaps there was some truth to what Rui had wrote.

Her curiosity getting the better of her, Wendy gathered up her courage and attempted to start a conversation with the enigmatic wizard.

"That spell you just cast, Mr 'Thaumaturge' sir, that's a wind spell isn't it? Does this mean you're a Wind or Weather Wizard?" She asked hesitantly wanting to know more about 'Thaumaturge' but not make it sound like she was trying to be nosey or anything- she most definitely did not want to _swim_ the rest of the way home.

For a second, as 'Thaumaturge's' deep blue eyes locked onto her, as if seeing _right through_ her and not just at her, Wendy feared that she had just overstepped her boundary. The relief that swept over her was as great as the breath she suddenly exhaled when he started speaking.

"Firstly, just call me _Alastor_. And as to your question: I'm actually a Balance Wizard." He replied.

"A...Balance Wizard?" Wendy echoed a picture of a set of brass scales coming to mind.

"It's a Lost Magic just like Will's Dragon Slayer Magic and your Healing Magic. It allows me to conjure and combine elemental magic using the surrounding ethernano not just my own Magic Power." Alastor explained easily noting the confusion in her voice as well as her face. "Here, watch this."

Standing up Alastor conjured a ball of fire about as big as his hand.

"A fireball is a basic offensive spell, easily mastered by any kind of wizard. Now, a Fire Wizard could make this more powerful by putting more of their Magic Power into it but a Balance Wizard can use Water Magic to decrease the level of moisture in the air surrounding the fireball, Wind Magic to enrich the air that fuels the fireball, Lightning Magic to charge the fireball and Gravity Magic to compress and contain the fireball…" As he spoke, Alastor used the aforementioned elements to manipulate the fireball so that it now burned brighter, hotter and more powerfully despite it's slightly smaller size. "To create _this_!"

Thrusting his hand forward, the customised fireball shot off like a rocket across the lake. To Alastor, that was just one of the first Balance spells he had created since joining Fairy Tail seven years ago. To Wendy, who had been watching with rapt attention, it was pretty much the most amazing thing she had seen since waking up seven years ago to find herself in one of Cait Shelter's storage cellars.

"That was _amazing_!" She gushed all nervousness gone from her body as she stared at Alastor in a new light.

"It was just a Plasmabolt." Alastor brushed off as he sat back down. It was pretty much just his version of the fireball spell, which was rather mild compared to some of the other spells he had come up with over the last few years.

"So does that mean you can use any magic and combine them into spells?" Wendy asked curiously.

"Not exactly. I need to first have a basic understanding of the element and it's properties in order to successfully combine it." Alastor began before stopping as he realised what he was doing.

He had never been this talkative before. While he did give a brief explanation now and again, usually to shut up his nosey Guild mates, he had never bothered being in depth with _anyone_ other than Lisanna whose persistence was even greater than that of Will and Natsu combined when it came to whatever he was doing.

Yet, here he was talking away to this stranger like they had known each other for years. Sure, the hair color was nearly the same but that was just a coincidence.

"Is something wrong?" Wendy asked wondering why he had suddenly gone all quiet on her.

"It's nothing." Alastor replied pulling up the hood of his jacket. The tone of his voice indicated that he did not want to talk any more even as he cancelled the spell he had on Rui.

"Oh…" Was all the young girl could say in response realising that she had likely done something wrong to anger him.

Luckily for her, they had reached the village during their conversation and the raft was just drifting into the dock where Will was already out of the water and waiting for them with her trademark grin firmly in place with several of the village's populace staring at her in wonder no doubt puzzled by the fact that she had just swam all the way here while towing a raft made from one of their boats.

"So, how did you like travelling the Leviathan Express? Pretty cool, huh?" The Water Dragon Slayer asked of Wendy.

"Yeah, it was amazing! Do you do that often?" Wendy asked all smiles and excitement again by the fact she was talking to a wizard of Fairy Tail.

"Not often enough. Al here tries to take jobs that require land travel more than sea or river travel." Will explained as she helped Wendy disembark the raft. "I think he does it on purpose just to see me at my worst."

"I see _that_ on a daily basis." Alastor countered as he got off the raft with Rui nodding her head in agreement.

Wendy could not help but giggle out loud as Will glared at the two as if they had just ruined the image she was trying to portray.

"The Guild hall's this way. Follow me." She told them before running off in the direction of said Guild hall.

"Don't think we need directions for that." Alastor remarked looking up ahead to the cat shaped building that had been noticeable from the other side of the lake.

"Quit being a stick-in-the-mud, Al. She's just trying to be helpful." Will reprimanded her friend as they followed after their guide at a more sedate pace.

"Or trying to get his attention." Rui quickly scribbled in mid air with her light pen as she walked just ahead of the two wizards. "You should have seen them on the raft. He actually seemed to be in a chatty mood for once."

"Oh? Another fan for your ever growing club, Blue-boy?" Will teased nudging the wizard in the ribs.

Alastor did not bother to reply to Will's ribbing. While managing to avoid having his picture in Sorcerer Weekly sans the odd silhouette now and again, the way the magazine had depicted him had given him quite the fan club most of which being female. It was prime material for Will and several other members of Fairy Tail to tease Alastor about whenever the Guild received anonymous fan mail addressed to him.

Wanting to think of something other than why girls always wanted to meet him in person, along with not wanting to listen to Will teasing him about it, Alastor brought his attention to the area Cait Shelter resided in. From a distance, it had looked like a small village but, now that he was here, it looked and felt more like a community than anything else with everyone within a part of the Guild. Every person he saw was wearing similar clothes, face paints and even the Guild mark somewhere on their body. The only really notable difference he had seen so far had been Wendy's hair color.

Thinking of the little blue haired girl made Alastor begin to wonder if they also knew the same magic as she did. Given that this Guild seemed self sufficient and pretty much closed off from the rest of Fiore, it would not be that big of a stretch to assume they were like that to prevent the knowledge of a Lost Magic becoming public knowledge for fear of who or what may come after them for their own selfish reasons be they Legal Guild, Dark Guild or even the Magic Council.

Noticing a sudden lack of teasing coming from his travel companion, Alastor looked over at Will to see her hugging herself as if trying to keep warm. Something which was strange considering she wore sandals, shorts and crop tops everywhere from hot deserts to freezing mountain tops.

"You alright?" He asked a hint of concern in his voice.

"This place…" Will muttered looking around as if expecting someone to suddenly jump out and scare her. "It's giving me the creeps."

Alastor raised an eyebrow at her remark. Sure, the place was quiet and remote, but there was nothing he could sense that gave the impression that something was going on behind the scenes.

"Stop talking nonsense." Alastor told her wondering if the Dragon Slayer had been listening to Mirajane talking about one of her recent jobs of tackling a ghost haunting a graveyard to the Guild again. "Come on. Our guide's waiting for us."

Not even the sight of Wendy waving to them from the centre of the village could shake off the unease Will was feeling. Something about this village was giving her the shivers and yet there was nothing out of the ordinary as far as she and even Alastor could tell.

Perhaps all those evenings listening to Mirajane's ghost stories while scarfing down cold stew before calling it a day were finally getting to her.

* * *

It was taking Wendy all the restraint she had to wait for the two Fairy Tail Wizards to catch up to her before dashing off again towards the Guild hall. Perhaps, had she listened to several of her fellow Guildmates calling out to her to slow down before she hurts herself, she might not have caught her foot on something and literally dive through the entrance doors of her Guild to land painfully on her front.

"Ow…." She groaned feeling sore from the landing mixed in with embarrassment for making a fool of herself in front of visitors to her Guild. At least, that was what she was feeling until she saw just who she had landed in front of.

"And just where have you been, child." The small, white furred feline admonished the girl. "I barely let you out of my gaze for a second and you go gallivanting off on your own to see those hooligan Wizards paying us a visit despite my warning to be patient and wait."

Despite barely reaching the blue haired girl's knees while standing on her hind legs, the way she held herself and the way she dressed gave off the impression she was more Wendy's mother rather than her best friend from the way Wendy started to curl up the more the cat lay into her.

"And quit huddling up like that. You offered to be their guide in front of everyone, did you not? You should stand tall and proud like the powerful Sky Dragon Slayer you are." The cat scolded her.

"But...Carla…" Wendy began unsure how to continue. She was not as great a wizard as her best friend claimed she was. If she were even half as powerful as Carla said she was, then she would have been able to take out the bandits before Will and Alastor had arrived and saved her.

"What's that about a Sky Dragon Slayer?" Wendy heard Will say.

Twisting round, the young Wizard saw that Will, along with Alastor and Rui, had caught up to her and was now looking down at her in a mixture of curiosity and confusion. After a few quick glances from Wendy to Carla and back, the Water Dragon Slayer's face broke into a wide grin as she connected the dots.

" _You're_ a Dragon Slayer?! Why didn't you say so?!" Will exclaimed grabbing a startled Wendy by the shoulders and picking her up so that they were seeing eye to eye. "Who's your dragon? Have they been training you long? Are you still in contact? Do you know if-"

"Will." Alastor cut in. His voice was calm and even but had such a keen edge to it that it cut through the Water Dragon Slayer's thirst for information concerning Wendy's past like a knife and bring her back to reality.

Realising that she was scaring the younger girl, Will gently put Wendy down on her own feet again. No sooner had her feet touched the ground and Will had let go of her, Wendy quickly ran to hide behind Alastor which would have been amusing to Will were she not currently feeling terrible for scaring the girl seconds earlier.

"Sorry about that." Will apologised feeling properly ashamed of herself for how she had just acted.

"N-no, I'm the one who should apologise." Wendy blurted out. If she had told them that she was also a Dragon Slayer in the first place then none of this would have happened.

"Well don't. We didn't ask if you were a Dragon Slayer and just assumed you were a Healer." Alastor said bluntly.

"As much as I hate to admit it, the hooligan is right, child. They are the ones who should be apologising not you." Carla agreed grateful that at least one of these visiting Wizards had some common sense but still prefered that they got their business over and done with then left before they caused even more trouble like the rest of their Guild was infamous for.

"Hey! I just did apologise you posh, pampered tabby!" Will snapped at Carla.

"Excuse me!? Just because I'm a fellow feline does not mean you can lump me together with that tomcat at your feet!" Carla retorted pointing at Rui evidently offended at being called something that described an alley cat rather than a proper lady like herself.

'Like I'd want to be related to someone dressed to the nines & sounding like a grandma!' Will scribbled angrily glaring at the white cat as if wanting to use her as a scratching post.

It took a few seconds for Carla to read Rui's backward writing. By the time she finished, it would not have been surprising if her white fur suddenly turned red to match her mood at being called old among other things.

" _Enough_." Alastor cut in again before an all out catfight began.

He had not raised his voice or anything but the way the two cats and Will ceased their bickering had it looking like he had shouted at them. Even Wendy, despite being just a bystander beside Alastor, had jumped slightly when he spoke.

"I didn't come all this way just for you Dragon Slayers and your partners to duke it out. If you want to continue, do it outside where the crowd won't bother me and the Guild Master." Alastor continued glancing at the four of them before stepping past them and into the Guild hall.

As both Will and Carla opened their mouths to protest their sides of the story to Alastor, as well as retaliate or admonish the Wizard respectively, not a sound came out as they finally noticed the crowd that had gathered at the doors to the Guild hall to watch the spectacle unfold. No doubt they had been wanting to see why someone from Fairy Tail had requested an audience with their Guild Master only to instead be held up by Carla, Will and Rui blocking the entrance as they had a heated discussion. By mutual agreement, the trio wisely decided to abide by Alastor's suggestion to stop their bickering but just one look at any of their faces showed that they would be picking up where they left off before parting ways later on.

With the entrance clear and the spectacle now over, the rest of the Guild members filed into their Guild hall most of them sporting looks of amusement at what they had just witnessed rather than impatience.

It was not every day they got to see little Carla riled up in such a way, after all.

* * *

 _Another chapter done & dusted. For those curious about Alastor's mage class, history,& all that jazz, all will be revealed in due time. The same for Will too._

 _On a lighter note, Merry Christmas one & all! Especially to Minstrel, a non-writer who I have become rather close to in recent weeks._

 _Review if possible & until next time_

 _Watch this space, peace out & __**Merry Christmas!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer is on Chapter 1_

* * *

Sitting upon his stone throne in the center of his Guildhall, Roubaul patiently stared at the two visiting Wizards who were sitting crossed legged on the floor in front of him mentally measuring them while the rest of the Guild members filed in to the building all no doubt eager to see why they were receiving visitors from Fairy Tail whose reputation were known all across Fiore.

Of the two, the orange haired girl seemed to be the most fidgety apparently not accustomed to waiting patiently for things to begin whereas the lad, despite having his hood up, sat there still as a statue hus eyes barely visible from beneath the hood yet still high enough for him to stare right back as if trying to measure him just like what he was doing to them.

With the Guildhall filled to capacity, Roubaul ceased his staring contest with the lad in blue and raised his hand causing the quiet murmurings coming from around the Guildhall to hush.

"Welcome to our Guild, Wizards of Fairy Tail. I am Roubaul, the Guildmaster of Cait Shelter." Roubaul greeted Alastor and Will before grabbing a cup and bottle filled with amber liquid from the table beside him.

Filling said cup, the Guildmaster offered it to his guests. Immediately Will shook her head while waving her hands furiously. She had had several bad experiences with alcohol in the past, all of which incurring the wrath of Alastor or their own Guildmaster, sometimes both, and was trying to refrain from ever touching a drop of the stuff again- no small task given Fairy Tail's penchant for parties. When the cup was offered to him, Alastor merely put his hand up to decline.

Seeing his offer refused, Roubaul took no offense merely shrugging as he put the full cup back on the table and took a deep swig straight from the bottle.

"So then," He began dribbling the amber liquid all down his beard as he spoke. "What brings you here to our little Guild?"

"I came here to offer you an invite to a Guild Alliance." Alastor began coming straight to the point after recovering from the Guild Master's disgusting display. "There's been a steady increase in Dark Guild activity over the past year ranging from robberies to assaults and yet the Magic Council seem to pay it no attention instead trying to keep it all hushed up as if they believe letting them having a few minor victories will quell their rampage."

That's putting it mildly, Will thought with disgust. In her eyes, she believed the Magic Council were doing nothing to at least dissuade Dark Guilds from causing carnage because they were too afraid to get their hands dirty in the likely case they were sent packing. There were likely bribes and blackmail involved also but those who just sat on their rears and did nothing were one of the reasons why she prefered working for Fairy Tail rather than the Council.

"So, suffice to say, this is not something the Magic Council would authorise?" Roubaul asked curiously.

For the first time today, Alastor smiled. Well, almost smiled. More like a grin perhaps.

"We're from Fairy Tail. Our Guild Master taught us to follow our hearts not the rules of the Council in order to master our craft." Alastor stated proud remembering the words of his Guild Master who had stated them at least once a week after grilling them all for all the complaints and reprimands he had received for their actions during jobs.

The Wizard's answer had Roubaul smiling widely clearly liking Fairy Tail's ideology.

"There is truth and conviction in your words. We of Cait Shelter will gladly join your alliance." Roubaul stated loudly for all of his Guild members to hear.

As the hall filled with the sound of cheering, Alastor glanced at Will and Rui who were both grinning widely at the success of their trip.

"When the time comes for this alliance to act, young Wendy shall represent Cait Shelter." Roubaul continued taking another swig from the bottle.

While the rest of the Guild continued to celebrate as if not hearing their Guild Master speak, the Wizards of Fairy Tail were more shocked than surprised. And Will, who had managed to keep quiet thus far in the proceedings, could no longer remain silent.

"ARE YOU FREAKING INSANE!?" she shouted out while jumping to her feet.

The room went silent leaving just the sound of the alcohol pouring out of Roubaul's mouth like a waterfall while the Guild Master stared slack-jawed at the enraged Dragon Slayer.

Before Will could go on a further tirade, Alastor got up and slapped Will hard on the back of the head quieting her instantly.

"I apologise for my friend's outburst." The blue haired Wizard began pausing to glare at Will who whilted under his gaze. "I have to agree with her though. This alliance isn't just to combat run-of-the-mill Dark Guilds but the Balam Alliance- the top three most powerful Dark Guilds. This isn't something you should be sending a single kid out to battle."

He had a right to be concerned. The Guild's that made up the Balam Alliance had some of the most deadliest of Wizards among their ranks. Even the weakest of the three Guilds would not be easy to tackle and it was highly likely there would be casualties. To send a child into something like that was like sending a lamb to the slaughter. Something that Alastor did not want on his conscience.

"Do not let Wendy's age lead you astray. She may be young, but her gifts of Healing and Support magic surpass anything the rest of Cait Shelter can give you." Roubaul explained to Alastor. "She is also, as you may know, a Dragon Slayer."

"She's also only a child." Alastor pointed out.

"It does not matter how old a Wizard is to be powerful. Wendy is one of those Wizards."

Alastor frowned as he stared at the Guild Master. He could not help but feel like Roubaul was trying to push the young girl onto them. Yet trying to persuade him not to send a mere ten year old into a lion's den seemed likely to just have them going round in circles.

"Give us a minute to discuss this." Alastor said casting Requip to summon a staff.

Touching the base of the staff to the floor, a glyph spread across the ground beneath the feet of the two Fairy Tail Wizards. Now encased inside the Privacy Glyph, Alastor turned to his fellow Fairy Tail Wizard.

"I know it's pointless to ask this but, what's your take on all this?" Alastor asked of Will.

"Well obviously I think it's too dangerous for a...a..." Will stuck her head outside the field of the glyph towards Wendy. "How old are you?"

"E-Eleven." Wendy blinked at the sudden question.

"Thanks." Will grinned at the girl before sticking her head back in the field. "It's way too dangerous for an eleven year old and this whole thing reeks of a set up!" This whole place made her feel uncomfortable and on edge. Like there was something off and she couldn't quite sniff out what it was. "It's like they _want_ to get rid of her, Al."

'Why do they just want to send her? Can't any of the others do Healing or Support Magic?' Rui asked.

"Support Magic maybe, but Healing Magic isn't a singular magic but a branch of Wind-based Dragon Slayer magic." Alastor supplied recalling what he had heard at the entrance of the Guild hall. "That could also be why she's skilled in Support Magic also, I suppose."

"Yeah, but, if that's true, I doubt the girl's dragon taught her anything offensive before abandoning her like what Aquis and Igneel did to me and Natsu." Will pointed out.

Unlike most brands of Caster Magic, there were certain kinds of magic that could not be learned merely through reading books or taught by a fellow Wizard. Certain Slayer Magics, specifically Dragon Slayer Magic, could only be taught by an actual dragon. Will was one of those pupils and had spent seven years under a Water dragon just learning only the basics of how to use Water Dragon Slayer Magic before being abandoned when she was around Wendy's age.

That was nearly seven years ago now meaning that Wendy, if her dragon had left her in the year X777 also, had only been around five at the time. Meaning that there was no way the young girl knew any offensive Dragon Slayer arts which meant she would not be able to fight back to defend herself.

Unless the sudden idea coming up in Alastor's head could work.

"Will, elements aside, Dragon Slayer Magic is pretty much the same, isn't it?" He asked the Water Dragon Slayer. He had spent most of his teenage years with two Dragon Slayers of different elements and had noted quite a few similarities between the twos' respective repertoires.

"Uh… I guess so. Although it would probably differ a bit due to the properties of the element, I suppose." Will answered unsure where her friend was going with this but could practically hear the gears turning inside his head as an idea came to mind.

"So it could be done…" Alastor muttered casting Requip again this time returning the staff to his pocket dimension. The action cancelled the Privacy Glyph allowing the two Fairy Tail Wizards to hear the mutterings echoing through the Guild hall before they too went quiet when the Wizards of Cait Shelter realised they had finished discussing business privately.

"We'll accept your offer." Alastor began holding up a hand to stop anyone from speaking up before he finished what he was saying. "Providing you allow us to take the kid with us back to Fairy Tail for a week."

"What?! Me?!" Wendy exclaimed when she realised what Alastor just said.

"As you are now, you're likely to be a liability to us." Alastor told her bluntly causing Will to wince.

' _She's a kid, Al, at least_ try _to tone it down._ ' Will thought wishing the blue haired wizard could not be serious all the time at least when conversing with Guild mates or children. She could never really fathom how Lisanna always managed to put up with it.

"Fortunately for you, Fairy Tail has two Dragon Slayers among their ranks- including this idiot." Alastor added motioning to Will before continuing. "Hopefully, between the two of them, they should be able to help broaden your Dragon Slayer abilities."

The shock left Wendy's face to be replaced by wonder and disbelief as she realised what she was being offered. Ever since hearing about the two Dragon Slayers of Fairy Tail, she had always dreamed of meeting them. Now it looked like that dream was going to become a reality.

"Well? Don't just stand there staring, child. Answer the hooligan." Carla scolded her.

Snapping back to reality, Wendy bowed so that her upper body was near parallel to the ground. "T-Thank you very much! I-I humbly accept!" Being taught by two dragon slayers was something she's never even fathomed were possible. She didn't even know if she could learn from them all that she could do but it couldn't hurt to at least try.

"...Sensei Will, Will Sensei..." A grinning Will muttered as she rubbed her chin. That had such a nice ring to it, she just couldn't help herself.

'Well, someone's getting into it.' Rui wrote in the air a deadpan look on her face before she blinked and thought of something. 'Though we might not want Natsu teaching her practical combat. Wind and fire make for _explosive_ combinations.' The more oxygen you added, the bigger the flame would become. And the more property damage would surely follow.

"That's ok! I know I could probably teach her since wind and water go together like that." Will waved off her concerns with a cheerful grin crossing her index and middle fingers to indicate the togetherness.

"Don't go getting ahead of yourself. You're only helping her learn basic Sky Dragon Slayer Arts not Unison Raids and anything you and Natsu consider flashy and devastating." Alastor scolded the Water Dragon Slayer deflating her jubilant mood like a punctured balloon.

"I really do hope that's all you'll be teaching her." Carla spoke up. The last thing she needed was her friend becoming a hooligan just like the two before her and their mangy alley cat familiar.

"By all means, come with us. That way you'll get to see just how great and awesome our Guild is while me and Natsu show Wendy the real fun of being a Dragon Slayer." Will grinned only to stare solemnly down at the floor as Alastor fixed her his deadly gaze.

"I shudder at the thought." Carla sniffed.

'Then pack some fake furs to keep yourself warm, granny.' Rui wrote angrily before she could stop herself.

Ignoring the build up of what looked to be an actual catfight, Alastor walked over to Wendy who was looking slightly starstruck as if her biggest dream had just become a reality.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" He asked the girl snapping her out of her dreamlike state. "This isn't going to be a vacation you're going on. More of a boot camp to help you become more prepared for what lies ahead should the time come. If you want to back down, now is the time to do it."

Wendy fidgeted slightly as she mulled over what Alastor told her. She would be lying if she were to say she was not afraid of what might happen in the near future. But she wanted to be of help and not just be a burden to everyone else in the alliance. Doing so might help in finding out where Grandeeney had disappeared off to. With that thought in mind, Wendy returned Alastor's stare with a determined look of her own.

"I want to come with you to Fairy Tail and learn how to be a real Sky Dragon Slayer. I don't want to be a burden to you and the others when the time comes." Wendy stated sounding more confident than she dared believed.

"Heh. That's a good answer there. You may very well survive Fairy Tail yet." Will grinned as she reached over and patted the girl's head affectionately. The girl had some backbone alright, she just needed some help finding it.

"T-Thank you." Wendy giggled at the pat, feeling all fuzzy with a tinge of pink to her cheek. And then the words registered in her brain. "Wait, survive?" That's a weird way to word it.

"Don't worry about it." Will waved off with a cheery grin. "The bar fights have toned down a _lot_ over the past year!" It was a pretty big accomplishment really! Now barely anything was set on fire- it was the breaking stuff part that needed to be worked on now.

 _That doesn't make me feel any better!_ Wendy thought beads of sweat beginning to drip down her face as she tried to figure out exactly what Fairy Tail was like.

'Just stick close to Alastor if anything kicks off. When he gets fed up, he'll tell them to stop. And n _obody_ has the stones to go against his word in Fairy Tail. Not even Erza and Mira when they begin slugging it out.' Rui advised turning her back of an angry Carla to join in.

"Stop putting images in her head you two." Alastor told the two off wondering if maybe he should have just sent them packing back to Magnolia after all before coming here. There was no doubt Wendy was going to be shocked upon arriving at their Guild but, to be dreading it before they even got there, he reckoned the girl's training might take more than a week.

Making sure the Water Dragon Slayer and her familiar were no longer trying to traumatize Wendy, an easy feat for him, Alastor turned back to Roubaul who had just finished drying off his beard.

"So then, do we have a deal?" He asked the Guild Master.

"But of course! To deny a girl a chance to see more of the world would be a sin!" Roubaul replied jovially getting cheers from both his Guild Members and Will. "I have every confidence that young Wendy shall be fine and flourish tremendously under your care!"

' _He makes it sound like he's giving her away to me.'_ Alastor could not help but think making a mental note to talk to Master Makarov when he returned to Fairy Tail. Will was right, there was something fishy going on in this Guild and it all seemed to centre around Wendy for reasons he could not yet comprehend.

Minutes later, Alastor, Rui, Wendy and Carla were back on the makeshift raft that had brought them to Cait Shelter with Will towing it at an impressive clip. On the lake shore, the entire Cait Shelter Guild were waving them off with shouts of good luck and have fun echoing across the sky.

Despite the rockiness of the raft, Wendy was on her feet waving back to her fellow Guildmates while trying her hardest not to cry in front of Alastor. A moot attempt as he saw through her easily.

"Just let it all out. Keeping it all in will just come back to bite you otherwise." He told her a slight hint of softness in his voice. "You'll feel better afterwards."

As if he had said the magic words, tears began to pour down Wendy's cheeks like waterfalls as she began waving more enthusiastically mentally promising bother herself, her Guild and Grandeeney that she would return to Cait Shelter as a true Dragon Slayer.

This was the beginning of her first real adventure. And she had no idea how wild of a ride it was going to be.

* * *

 _Finally updated. My apologies for anyone who has actually bothered to read this. Hope you enjoyed it & I'll see about trying to stay motivated enough to do more chapters in the new year._

 _Review if possible & until next time_

 _Watch this space, peace out & Merry Christmas!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Greywing44 here! A Merry Christmas to all and a happy new year! If you like to sue people, too bad! There's already a disclaimer in chapter 1!_

* * *

The ride to Magnolia, the city in which the Fairy Tail guild was based, was rather uneventful. If you call Will's nausea along the whole train ride back as uneventful. The Sky Dragon Slayer had offered to use _Troia_ , a spell that could ease motion sickness but was denied by Alastor before Will could get a word in. The stoic Wizard had some knowledge of the spell and of its drawback: the more times its used, the less effective it became to the point it had no effect at all. Therefore, to Will's dismay, she had to deal with her nausea the whole train ride because he wanted to save the spell for emergencies only.

"You're a sadist Al, what could be the harm in using that spell one time!?" Will complained as they walked through the busy street towards the guild hall that was clearly visible to the excited Wendy by the symbol hung proudly on a bright orange banner on the front of the building.

"Because I'm not wasting it whenever we ride on a vehicle." Alastor replied back cooly not fazed at all by her pout as he had been subjected to it numerous times before. "Besides, only she can use that spell due to her elemental attribute."

"Sadist. At least call her by her name." Will hummed again, losing her pout as she rolled her eyes at him and his frugality. If this guy had been holding that spell out on her she was going to be pissed. Speaking of the young Dragon Slayer in question-

"Woah! Hold on, Wendy! You _definitely_ don't wanna be there!" She placed a hand over the excited blue haired girl's and tugged her away before she could open the ornate guild door.

"Eh? Why?" Wendy pouted as she was tugged away from the vicinity of the door. She was so looking forward to seeing where and the Fairy Tail wizards spent their downtime. Why was Will preventing her from doing so?

"Situational awareness, my little hatching!" Will grinned at the little girl and patted her head only making Wendy pout further and cover her head. "But seriously, you've got dragon heightened senses for a reason, try listening for a sec." She pointed to her ears as Alastor stood back patiently with his hands in his coat pockets knowing to trust those so called dragon heightened senses since they've saved them many times in the past.

"Listening? To what?" Wendy blinked, not seeing the point.

"Just do it child, I'm not standing out here all day." Carla waved her paw in circles standing by Wendy's feet rather than resting on her shoulder as her mangy tabbycat counterpart had with Will.

"A-Alright." Wendy closed her eyes. Cocking her head slightly as she focused her admittedly less developed dragon hearing to listen beyond the door only to begin sweating and paling as she heard what was going on behind said doors.

"Um...What am I listening to?" The Sky Dragon Slayer opened her eyes and looked up at her fellow Slayer Wizard in apprehension. She was almost dreading the answer..

"Five, four, three, two, one-."

Wendy yelped and hid behind Alastor when the doors suddenly burst outwards as two women tumbled onto the cobblestones in a blur of white, red, and black kicking and punching at each other all the while spitting curses in the other's faces. As if that wasn't enough Wendy could now see what looked to be a full out bar brawl inside as well.

"There's your answer." Will shrugged slightly in a 'what can you do?' motion.

"Does this happen often!?" Carla shouted over the tumult the fight was making. There were two people rolling around on the floor trying to rip each other to pieces and, by the sounds of things now that the doors were open, the inside was just one big brawl. Why were they not doing something?

"Not as often than you'd think." Alastor snorted as he simply walked past the fighting women without a backwards glance. "Happens only twice a week now."

"Which is definitely an improvement. Come on, I'll introduce you to them later. For now, stick close to me and Al, ok?" Will grinned down at the obviously frightened child grasping her hand in hers and gently tugging her past the two as the redhead summoned what looked to be a club to bash the white haired woman in the face.

"Aren't you going to stop them!?" Carla called as she summoned her wings and hovered next to the Wizard's head. That seemed too vicious to be called a mere scuffle in her mind.

"You wanna try, be my guest. Be warned that no one has _ever_ succeeded. Even Alastor just let's them go at it if they're already like this." Will stated seriously. She was not ever going to get between them again. She had learned from her bruises! "Also-"

Carla squawked when she was grabbed by the tail and yanked down as Will made Wendy squat down. Their eyes widened as a black haired man in only his underwear was sent flying overhead and crashed into the table.

"Ghh! That felt like the wind you slant eyed bastard!" The man growled and got up with nary a scratch when a normal man would sport a few broken bones. His silver sword necklace swinging with his motions.

 **"This man is known as Gray Fullbuster, a very talented wizard but has a habit of stripping for no reason. Doesn't even need any singles to do it."**

"I heard that Will! And I do not!" The man known as Gray glared at the snickering Will who had her hand in front of her mouth to make her voice sound deeper like a narrator of some play going on at the local theatre.

"Oh yeah? Then why am I looking at your underwear?" Will raised an eyebrow as she looked Gray up and down from his blue and white striped boxers back to his dark eyes. It was saddening that she could get use to looking at such a nice body, sick of it really.

"Wha-Damn it not again!" Gray groaned as he looked down at himself and seeing that he indeed had no clothes on- he had them on no more than five minutes ago. "Gimme your clothes Will!"

Wendy squeaked, covering her eyes as the mostly naked man was suddenly a metre away from them.

"Fat chance! I keep telling you they won't fit." Will replied easily with a laugh making Gray groan in disappointment even as he easily dodged a beer mug spearing for his head. "I'm introducing Wendy here to everyone. Natsu in that general direction?" She thumbed back towards the chaos in the general direction of where he was thrown from her other hand on Wendy's head as the young girl tried desperately not to look at Gray's exposed body.

"Ugh! You're not doing that stupid narrator voice _again_ are you?" The ice wizard rolled his eyes at his guild mate. All he got was a grin in response, making him shrug a bit. "Ah whatever. Yeah I'll get him. Hey! Pinky! You call that a kick!? I almost thought someone had left a window open!" He shouted out into the crowd, snorting in amusement when a man with pink spiky hair jumped out of the crowd immediately knocking away anyone in his path. His sharp canines and slightly feral look made him indistinguishable. He was wearing a black vest with gold trim, his trademark white scaled scarf and white and black pants with black sandals.

"Then lemme clock you one that'll _really_ blow you away, ice cube!" The pink haired man growled in a feral way making Wendy squeak at how scary his shadowed face was.

 **"This is Natsu Dragneel, also known as the Salamander. He's caused so much property damage that he's known as a natural disaster."**

"You bet your sweet ass I am!" Natsu grinned as he slammed his fists together noticing his fellow Dragon Slayer. "Hey Will. Tell Alastor that he's next after snowball over here."

"Sure. Make it quick though, would-ja guys? I gotta borrow Natsu in a bit." Will snorted as she lowered her hand from her mouth after doing her narrator voice.

"Can do!" The two replied before tackling each other throwing punches, kicks and insults at each other as they tumbled across the floor trying to cause the other harm but Will knew that it wasn't serious- it was friendly even.

"That barbarian is the Fire Dragon Slayer?" Carla questioned in a tone full of disbelief. Sticking close by Will as she expertly navigated past people fighting and projectiles. " _He's_ going to help teach Wendy?!" Alastor actually expected that delinquent to teach!?

"Yep. He looks mean but he's nice...Most of the time. He's just a big ole battle crazed softie." Will shrugged.

"I-I'm not so sure those two traits go together." Wendy stuttered so far terrified by the bar fight and the rowdy atmosphere. This was what it was like all the time!?

After what felt like a hair raising eternity for Wendy, they finally reached the bar where Alastor was sitting waiting patiently for Will to stop playing around with introducing everyone. Sitting next to him was a grumbling woman with long brown hair dressed in a dark blue bikini top, steel bracelets around her biceps, and tan pants with blue high heels. She was swirling around a glass of red wine with her cheek resting against her fist.

"Can't even drink in peace around here." She muttered sourly as she watched the spectacle in almost a bored fashion.

"It's three o'clock." Alastor stated bluntly. Well before the time when any drinking, if at all was deemed appropriate.

"Like the song says, it's five o'clock somewhere." The woman shot back just as easily sipping her wine with easy grace as she ignored the man's hard stare.

 **"This woman is Cana Alberona. She firmly holds the title of the Guild's heaviest drinker. Rumor has it that thirty percent of the guild's alcohol budget goes right down her throat."**

Carla and Wendy gaped at that bit of information from Will's narrator voice. A full thirty percent?! That just can't be humanly possible.

"H...How are you not dead yet?" Carla asked in a shaky voice. That much alcohol alone would kill over ten men. If that! "That's just an exaggeration right?!"

"I think Levy said around 29 point 9 percent so we just rounded it up." Cana replied easily before lifting up a huge barrel of booze. Shocking the two newcomers as she started chugging the alcohol down like it was nothing.

"...Is she human?" Wendy asked that question with wide eyes as she pointed at the heavy drinker. She was guzzling down a barrel of alcohol- _literally_ guzzling down a barrel of alcohol!

"It's one of the great mysteries of Fairy Tail." A new voice piped up, making Wendy wince as she dreaded the next person to join the list of rowdy members she's just seen. She was pleasantly surprised when a wary looking blond with a blue hair tie, blue and white top, and blue skirt slowly stood up from behind the bar only to slightly dive back down each time there was a crashing sound particularly when it was near there vicinity. "Hi. Really overwhelming huh? I'm-"

 **"This lovely lady here is Lucy, the star rookie of Fairy Tail with the power to summon Celestial spirits of the zodiac. Her...Assets are known throughout the land"**

The woman known as Lucy blushed a bit at Will's narration of her as the Water Dragon Slayer wiggled her eyebrows.

"S-Stop that! Don't give her weird ideas about me Will!" She whined as she slapped at the now laughing Slayer.

"I didn't say _which_ assets!" Will giggled as she raised her arms as a shield.

"Anyways, I was really surprised too but you just get used to it after a while." Lucy sighed as she pushed her bangs back away from her face. "So long as you don't stand in the storm, you should be alright." She learned that just the other week after getting an eyeful of Gray's...assets on her first day in. "Or just stand next to Alastor." Either or should work.

"At least there's someone relatively sane around here besides the hooligan." Carla sighed slightly. Finally a sense of normalcy.

"Hm? Hey you look just like..." Lucy blinked as she looked from Carla to Rui. What were the chances of three of them?

"Hi, I'm Happy." Carla blinked as she looked to her right to see a blue cat around the same size as her and the tabbycat but had a green little bag on his back and little else to discern. "Want a fish?" He asked shyly as he presented a fish to the white cat. It was pretty obvious by his posture what his intentions were behind the fish.

Carla merely raised an eyebrow at the display before her, the gift seeming to offend her very eyes. With a 'Hmph!' she merely turned away not even looking back to see the cat turn white with despair.

'Ouch. Rejected.' Rui wrote noting the new color her fellow feline was sporting.

"Ooh...This must somehow be Lucy's fault." The cat known as Happy sniffled as he collapsed on his paws and knees contemplating his rejection in his despair.

"Excuse you?" Lucy gazed at the cat with a twitching eye. She didn't even lift a finger the little-!

 **"This cat is fairy tail's blue cat of happiness, Happy. He's never far away from his best friend Natsu."**

Happy brightened up on hearing Will's narrator voice. He then gained his wings with a whooshing sound before flying into her free shoulder.

"It's the Narrator voice! Oh! Oh! Do Elfman!" He seemed to completely forget his earlier rejection as he pointed at a large man with white spiky hair, black coat with white kanji on the back, black pants, and wooden sandals. He seemed to be smacking someone with a chair at this very moment.

Will giggled at the request before complying and placing her hand over her mouth. **"This manly man is Elfman Strauss, part of the Takeover Siblings. He tries his best buuuut...Sometimes falls short."**

"Wha-No I do not!" Elfman shouted loudly as he took a pose ready to regale them in the rules of being a man. "I'm a real man! Real men always-"

"Shut it!" Natsu came out of nowhere and kicked Elfman in the chest sending him flying into tables with his soul starting to come out of his mouth. No one wanted to hear that lame speech!

"Um...H-How many times are you going to do the voice?" Wendy sweated slightly as she stood a bit behind Will. Even if the bar counter seemed like a relatively safe space, she was still very afraid of the bar fight going on not a few feet away. She also seemed to be having way too much fun with that voice.

"Till she gets bored or so angry she forgets that she's doing it." Another person with white hair was seen as she walked over easily side stepping some guild members who were stretching each others faces before reaching the bar. "Who's this cutie? You're not related to Alastor are you?" Wendy shifted in place, becoming self conscious of the pretty white haired girl kneeling down in front of her.

"We're not siblings just because our hair color is the same, Lisanna." Alastor snorted as he tilted his head to the side to dodge a chair sailing at his head unlike Lucy who ducked as it hit the bottles on the bar and made them shatter.

"Al, are you really saying that to _me_?" Lisanna giggled as she pointed at her white hair causing Wendy to remember the pretty white haired demon lady from the front of the guild.

"Yes." Was the answer she got back only making her giggle a bit more before shrugging in defeat.

 **"This is-"**

"Will, stop. Or I'm using that silencing spell on you." Alastor grunted as he stood up completely fed up with the loud chaos of the room now along with Will's antics.

Requipping a simple looking wooden staff, he slammed it down onto the floor making a noise like thunder. The booming sound made everyone fighting freeze and glance towards the blue haired Wizard's back with fear.

"If I turn around and see anything broken I'm going to be _very_ unhappy."

All of a sudden, there was a blur of movement to get rid of the broken furniture and throw it out the door then quickly getting new furniture out from the basement and setting them down in their previous places.

"Wow..." Wendy marveled over the command that Alastor had over the entire guild. What was once a bar fight was now a race to get everything broken fixed. Evidently everyone in Fairy Tail feared Alastor's strength as a Wizard, at least when he was angry. However, there was always one who did not pick up on that notion.

"Ha! You cowards! I said you were next Al, so fight me!" Natsu was the only one that wasn't fixing the guild instead picking another fight- this time with the very Wizard who had just made the previous fight end. Taking a running start he leapt at Alastor's unguarded back with his fist set ablaze.

" **Silent sound**." Alastor muttered merely pointing one hand behind him and blasting the screaming Fire Dragon slayer right through the ceiling not even bothering to turn around to see the results of his spell.

"Oh Natsu..." Lucy sighed as she placed her hand over her eyes at her teammate's stupidity. While the Pink haired man 's determination was one of his good points, he didn't seem to know when he was fighting a losing battle.

"We still need him you know." Though Will tried to sound miffed, she couldn't help but snicker at the hole in the ceiling. "How is he supposed to teach Wendy when he's flying through the sky for forever?"

"One, I hope you still remember gravity is a thing." Was what Alastor shot back in response as he sat back down next to Cana. "Two-"

A loud crash could be heard followed closely by a voice crying "My cabbages!".

"With your dragon nose, you should be able to find him easyily." He continued as Wendy blinked at the sudden shout from before. "I have something to talk to Cana about, so you go find the fire starter and drag him back here.

"Mm?" Cana raised an eyebrow as she set down her barrel. What could he have to talk to her about?

"Alright Wendy come on, let's leave this sourpuss and go find Natsu." Will grinned before she grabbed Wendy's shoulders and steered her towards the door just as the two women from before seemed to be done with their brawl and were walking back into the guild themselves.

"Hello Will, when did you get here?" The white haired woman smiled as she tilted her head all dressed up in a pretty red dress and black heels, a pony tail raised upwards from her bangs.

"Probably when we smashed through the door." The redhead stated as she crossed her arms talking of their fight as if it were the weather. She herself was wearing a set of shiny silver armor from head to toe that looked fairly light but also really clean.

You would never have thought either of them had just been in a tussle outside trying to claw one another's eyes out. They were both beautiful young ladies, that was to be sure, but all the terrified Wendy could see right now were the two angry demon ladies from before.

"AhhhHHH! Don't hurt me!" Wendy screamed as she suddenly ran past them and into the streets.

"Wait! Wendy! They're only monsters... _sixty_ percent of the time!" Will shouted before wincing when she felt a dark aura behind her from the two said monsters."Wait for me!" She then ran after the little girl with Rui and an already exhausted Carla flying in behind her.

"Erza. Mira. Let them go."

Fortunately for the two terrified Slayers and their familiars, the two monsters heeded Alastor's order and walked back inside where the rest of the Guild members had just finished refurbishing the Guild so that it was once again looking spotless...until the next squabble kicked off.

 **"Erza Scarlet and Mirajane Strauss. Undoubtedly two of Fairy Tail's strongest Wizards, each a master of their respective magic combat style and beautiful too but always at each other's throats if the chance presents itself."**

"Lisanna…" Alastor warned looking at the youngest Strauss sibling who had transformed into a perfect doppleganger of Will right down to the deep voice.

Upon seeing the look in the blue haired Wizard's eyes, Lisanna quickly reverted back.

"Awwww. I just wanted to finish off what Will started." She pouted giving Alastor an innocent look that would win the hearts of most males.

* * *

"Stupid grumpy ass..."

Over in the streets, a certain Fire Dragon Slayer grumbled as he brushed bits of cabbage and wood chippings off his shoulders ignoring the multiple lumps on his head he had earned from his encounter with the irate salesmen of said cabbage. It wasn't his fault that every time Alastor sends him flying he landed in his cabbage cart! It was like bad luck or a...a...some other word for bad luck.

"Next time, I'm gonna get him! With a right hook, then a feint, then a flaming kick! Yeah! Yeah! It's gonna be awesome!" He laughed to himself with a sinister look on his face making people avoid crossing the man in the street.

"Natsuuuuu! Come on flame boy I still need you!" His ears perked up when he heard Will shouting all the way down the other side of the street. He noticed that blue haired girl from before clinging to her.

"Hey Wiiill!" Natsu grinned at his fellow Slayer waving his arm in greetings. "Hold on! I'll be right over!"

He knelt down, flames appearing on his feet before jumping, his flames giving him the propulsion he needed to clear the street up over pedestrians' heads before landing in front of Will and Wendy causing the blue haired girl squeak before she noticed the cheery grin on his face. "Never fear, for Natsu is here! Whatcha need? Ooh is it sparring? I really hope it is." Natsu asked excitedly. Will was one of the funner people to fight against, she always made it more fun with the jokes and funny attack names. They even liked to try out Unison Raids whenever they had the time.

"Close. Natsu, meet Wendy the Sky Dragon Slayer." Will grinned as she pushed Wendy in front of her making her squeak as she looked up at Natsu shyly. "Also before you start, I already talked to her about the dragon situation, she doesn't know any more then we do." She waved off as Natsu opened his mouth.

'I think you mean interrogated' Rui scribbled between the three Slayers recalling that moment much more differently than what Will just said.

"Aw seriously?" Natsu groaned his hopes dashed before they even begun. "Ah whatever! Just means a bit more time right?"

To Wendy and Carla, Natsu seemed to go from one emotion to the next quicker than it took someone to blink. One minute he was all raring for a fight, the next minute he was all cheerful childlike.

"Hey there, I'm Natsu the Fire Dragon Slayer. I've got one question for you…" He began as he crouched down in front of her. "What do you eat?"

" _Eat_?" Both Wendy and Carla echoed at the same time.

"Yeah! like, I eat fire and Will here eats water." He was really curious what Wind attribute Slayers eat. "Is it something metaphorical like sunshine or clouds?"

 _'That's one word I never thought I would hear him say.'_ Carla thought when she heard the barbarian say the word 'metaphorical'. Perhaps there was more to this man than she first assumed unlike that blue tomcat who had somehow mysteriously appeared beside her holding a half eaten fish.

"N-No I eat air." Wendy relaxed slightly as she rubbed her elbow. This Natsu seemed a bit...different from the bar fight. Less feral and more calm like a low flame.

"Air huh?...Does air taste good?" Natsu stood up again and tilted his head. Crossing his arms as question marks popped up over his head. He couldn't see air tasting like anything. It was air! Invisible cotton candy pretty much!

"Natsu come on and focus." Will clapped her hands making them both jump and forget what they were talking about. "Or should I say... _Master_ Natsu?" She grinned when the Slayer predictably perked up.

"Never have I known I needed something so badly till I received it." Natsu sighed happily before waved his hand around. "Go on."

"Okay. You and I are Wendy's teachers. She needs to learn some offensive magic pronto before the week is out and she goes back to her Guild." Will explained placing her arm around his shoulders. "But first, we gotta work on those senses of hers. She couldn't even hear Erza and Mira fighting through the front door!" Wendy flushed immediately when her weakness was pointed out as she looked at her feet in shame.

"Ooh then I know exactly what to do!" Natsu grinned as he lit his finger on fire. The flames casting a eerie shadow on his face as his smile turned feral again. "Let's go hunting."

* * *

 _Boom! Another chapter up for Free's story! While we're on the subject of this story, for those confused about the timeline, it's pretty much about a week or so after Lucy first joins Fairy Tail. See, Free noticed there was nothing written- or drawn- about how the guild alliance that combats the balam alliance came to be so he created Alastor- or inserted since he's in a few more of his stories- and have him go around gathering guilds for said alliance. More will be explained in the next chapter. Oh, and the reason why Lisanna's alive is cause...hmmm… guess he just felt like it._

 _Anyways, I'm out! Peace and whatnot on Earth!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer's on chapter 1_

* * *

It didn't take long for Alastor to finish his business with Cana. Once that had been dealt with, the blue haired Wizard made his way upstairs to the Guild's upper floor where only Fairy Tail's S-Class Wizards and Guild Master were allowed to utilise although, in Alastor's mind, it seemed rather pointless as there were only a mere handful compared to the bulk of Fairy Tail's number and half of them were rarely seen if only to collect a new job or report one they had finished.

As such, the only S-Class Wizards in Fairy Tail right now, other than himself, were Erza and Mirajane who were sitting together at a table in the far corner with Guild Master Makarov, a small elderly man swathed in luminous clothing and smoking a pipe that was almost as long as he was tall.

"So, Cait Shelter have joined our little Alliance, have they?" The small man asked as Alastor sat down at their table.

"In a sense." Alastor began retelling the rest of the table about what had happened earlier today and why he had returned home with Wendy in tow.

It was the part about Cait Shelter wanting to send _only_ Wendy that got the most attention out of his story.

"To send but a child to do battle against the Balam Alliance…it's inexcusable!" Erza remarked angrily wondering whether she should go to Cait Shelter herself and discuss their reasons as to why sending only a child to aid them - at the point of her sword.

"It could be they're just using this Alliance to get rid of her because of her Dragon Slayer powers." Mirajane pointed out sadly having experienced the pain of being cast out of the village because of her Take Over magic.

"Let's not get wound up about this. They have their reasons for doing this and until the time is right for them to explain, we can only wait patiently." Makarov said calmly exhaling several smoke rings before continuing. "In the meantime, we should focus on helping young Wendy learn all she can in preparation for the battle to come while trying to get more Legal Guilds to join the Alliance. Have you any thoughts on where to look next, Alastor?"

"Another Guild with Wizards that specialise in Support Magic." The blue Wizard replied instantly having thought about this during the trip back from Cait Shelter. "We don't know which Wizards Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus will be sending so, if we can get another Guild with Support specialists, it'll allow Wendy to focus solely on using Healing Spells without having to cast any Support Magic herself."

Makarov hummed and nodded in understanding at Alastor's logic. If this young girl was able to use actual Healing Magic then having more Support Magic Wizards would prevent her from using up her magic on other spells which would deplete her magic leaving her drained and unable to heal anyone until her magic replenished itself.

This was without factoring in her Dragon Slayer abilities which, if tied to Healing Magic, would allow her to continually cast magic so long as she could, for lack of a better term, eat some of her Dragon attribute. Hence why Alastor requested Wendy come along with him to Fairy Tail where Will and Natsu could help her in understanding the basics of offensive Dragon Slayer Arts.

"Leave it to Alastor to think of the bigger picture. It will indeed be better for her to focus on healing and not trying to juggle two tasks." Erza praised to which Alastor merely rolled his eyes. If Master Makarov said yes to anything, she would back his agreement vehemently.

"That or he's just trying to make sure his _little sister_ is well prepared and has less to worry about come the day we go after the Balam Alliance." Mirajane teased all smiles and cuteness. A complete contrast to less than an hour ago when she was butting heads with Erza to put it lightly.

"At least he thinks about others unlike some people who think more about how they'll look in their next photo shoot in Sorcerer's Weekly." Erza shot at Mirajane.

"At least _I'm_ not afraid to show off my body instead of hiding it behind clanking suits of armor." Mirajane shot back still all smiles but now had a dark aura surrounding her.

"Oh? Are you saying you're better than me because I rely on my armor instead of my own power?" Erza challenged now sporting a similar aura.

"Give it a rest, you two." Makarov ordered. He did not mind the odd squabble now and again but Erza and Mirajane's repeated scuffles over the years were more costly than any of the brawl-fests that happened downstairs. Were it not for their popularity, powerful respective magicks and job success rate, they would still be competing with the likes of Will, Natsu and Gray to become S-Class Wizards.

Thankfully, the two girls still listened to him and immediately stopped their hostile glaring match. They were not going to be giving up their rivalry battle though, Makarov knew that. He just hoped that they kept any collateral damage to a minimal- his coffers were already light enough thanks to Natsu's rampage in Hargeon this month.

At that moment, a winged Lisanna flew up to the upper level and soared over to them. Because only S-Class Wizards were allowed upstairs, Lisanna often played the part of messenger due to her Animal Soul Take Over Magic.

"Hey, Al. Farmer's here for his compensation for Natsu breaking his cart again." She reported cheerfully like it was a common occurrence- which it was.

"Only him? No Natsu or Will?" Alastor asked curiously.

"You would've heard him if he was back." Lisanna pointed out with a giggle before gliding off.

Crossing his arms in thought, Alastor tried to figure out why Natsu wasn't back and with Will and Wendy in tow. If all three of them were together now, where exactly were they?

* * *

"U-Um...This...really isn't what I thought you meant by hunting." In the woods of Magnolia, Wendy was sweating profusely. She was dressed in what looked to be a native American headdress with large feathers crowning her head with red and white face paint dotting her cheeks. She certainly wasn't expecting the outfit.

"Natsu...Why am I dressed like a bunny!?" Happy whined wondering why he was wearing in a plush, brown bunny suit with long floppy ears as he floated beside his best friend. The last thing the blue cat remembered was flying around searching for Natsu when a hand grabbed him around the head from out of nowhere!

"Because Rui and Carla wouldn't put it on!" Natsu replied as he crossed his arms looking like an animated bush dressed in leaves all around his body with brown and green body paint on the exposed skin of his arms, face, and chest. The leaves were mostly around his head and shoulders to hide his pink hair and trademark scarf. "The costume is really important to the training!" His methods were sound and they would get it when they actually started the thing.

"Is it? Because I'd like another run down of exactly what you mean by hunting." Will asked in a confused tone dressed similarly to Natsu with leaves all around the back of her body and head to hide her bright hair with green and brown body paint over the exposed skin of her arms, face, legs, and chest. She still didn't get his plan here. She may love Natsu like a brother but his brain seemed to run on a different track them everyone else's.

"I told you, we go running off in different directions and Wendy has to sniff us out. What part of that is hard to understand about hunting?" Natsu pouted when they didn't get his glorious plan.

"...So it's basically a game of hide and seek?" Carla asked with a raised eyebrow. She was also dressed in the forest camouflage like the other two dragon slayers but with a lot more body paint to cover her once pristine white fur. Safe to say she was really hoping this came off after all this barbarian's shenanigans were done with.

"It's _nothing_ like hide and seek!" Natsu growled. He thought it up himself!

" _Really_? Because this certainly feels like hide and seek to me only you have us wearing these _hideous_ colors!" Carla remarked disdainfully.

'I think you look better that way.' Rui complemented despite all dolled up in leaves and paint also just like Carla but not feeling as disgusted as her once white furred, fellow feline.

"Well, I find this and you repulsive!" Carla snapped back her temper getting the better of her.

"So… _I'm_ the one doing the hunting...and I have to _hunt_ you all down!" Wendy exclaimed brightly excitement building in her as she understood what Natsu was getting at completely unaware of the argument happening at her feet with the two familiars.

" _Exactly_!" Natsu grinned giving Wendy a big thumbs up. "Nothing like a practical practice to start practicing your Dragon Slayer training regime!"

"At least she's eager to begin." Carla sighed. This was all to help Wendy become a better Dragon Slayer. She just needed to keep that in mind and endure any stupid shenanigans the barbarian had in mind for just a week. In her mind, it was more like a year- especially with this tomcat staring at her all the time.

"Aye! Natsu's the best Dragon Slayer ever! He'll train Wendy into a powerful Wizard!" Happy assured Carla before adding shyly. "If you want… I could help you become a powerful partner for Wendy…"

Carla huffed and looked away causing Happy to drop to his paws in dismay once more. With Lucy out of the picture, he had been certain the pretty feline would have been purring at the thought of getting closer to a fellow flying familiar.

"Alright then. Everybody but Wendy, scatter and hide!" Natsu commanded taking a running leap and diving head first into the nearest bush disappearing from sight.

Taking his cue, Will ran off in the opposite direction while the three green cats took to the air with Aero Magic and flew off in different directions although Happy made to follow after Carla until Rui hissed at him in warning to which he quickly scarpered off the other way leaving Wendy all by herself.

"So...Do I start 'hunting' you all now?" Wendy asked only to hear nothing in response. "Natsu?"

Trying to look inside and around the bush Natsu had hid in, Wendy was surprised to find there was no sign of the Fire Dragon Slayer.

"Will? Carla?" She called out nervously her voice becoming more quiet with each call as it finally sunk into her mind that she was now all alone in the forest.

Being all alone like this brought back memories of when she was younger and had been abandoned by Grandeeney, the Dragon who had trained and raised her for as far back as she could remember. All she could remember was waking up one morning to find Grandeeney had disappeared without telling her and never returned upsetting her greatly. Even the boy who found her as she looked for Grandeeney soon abandoned her also although he at least left her at Cait Shelter but even then, she was still alone until she had found the egg from which Carla had hatched from.

Shaking her head violently to remove those unpleasant memories, Wendy gathered her courage and marched off into the forest in search her 'prey'. She had been given a rare chance to train with real Dragon Slayers and wanted to make Grandeeney proud by being a real Dragon Slayer herself when she reunited with her dragon.

Sadly, no matter how hard or far she looked, Wendy could not find Natsu, Will, Carla or the other two familiars. All she had gained from her searching were some light scratches on her arms and legs and her once clean dress was now dirt stained and sporting a few small tears from where it had caught on branches.

Disheartened at her lack of progress, Wendy was about to call out to Natsu and Will that she couldn't find them when she heard the sound of a twig snap off to her right. Twirling round thinking that it was one of her friends, Wendy was about to call out only for her voice to catch in her throat at the sight of a huge, green furred monster staring right back at her with a very creepy look on his purple face.

"I was wondering what all the commotion was around here but wasn't expecting to come across a cute little snack." He leered as he stepped closer to the blue haired girl. "Might just pluck off those scrawny limbs and feathers before eating you, though."

Rooted to the spot with fear, Wendy could only watch as the monster stomped towards her. Just when it looked like it was about to reach out and grab her with one massive hand, the monster stopped right in its tracks as if time had frozen then began to walk back towards the treeline from whence it came but without looking away from her.

' _No. It's not_ me _he's looking at!'_ Wendy realised as she watched the monster continue to back away to the treeline before finally turning round and running off through the trees. Whatever was behind her, it had really spooked the creature and now she was worried that whatever was behind her was now going to be after her instead.

"Where are the others?"

Recognising the voice, Wendy turned round to see Alastor standing there with his trademark serious look making any happy thoughts dancing through her head to disappear as quickly as the monster had. She couldn't really blame him for looking cross. Her and Will were supposed to have gone to find Natsu and bring him back to the Guild not go frolicking in the forest.

"H-Hiding." Wendy answered shakily. "See, we found Natsu and Will told him they had to... 'work on my senses' I think she said? So anyways, they're off hiding somewhere and I supposed to hunt them down."

"Hunt? As in Natsu's 'hunting game'?" Alastor asked almost groaning when Wendy nodded in reply.

"Have you played this game?" Wendy asked curiously.

"Never. Never thought the moron still played it after last time too." Alastor muttered shaking his head.

"Last...time?"

"You're better off not knowing." Alastor told her sternly knowing how she would likely react.

Back when they were all kids, before Happy had entered his life and Will had shown up, Natsu had gone off into the forest with Elfman and Lisanna to play hunting where he would hunt down the two younger Strauss siblings to hone his senses while they used their Take Over Magic to keep away from him. Unfortunately, Mirajane did not like Natsu's game- or rather, she did not like her siblings playing with someone from 'Team Erza' and decided to 'hunt' Natsu herself- in Satan Soul form. Alastor had thought Natsu had been traumatised by the event but clearly the Fire Dragon Slayer still played it or still remembered how to play it anyways.

"So, you're the hunter yet the only thing you're finding is trouble rather than prey." Alastor stated shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah." Wendy nodded trying her hardest not to cry and ruin her face paints. "I've looked all over but I can't find anyone. Maybe I'm not supposed to be a Dragon Slayer."

"That's because you're _not_ hunting like a Dragon Slayer." Alastor pointed out getting a confused look from Wendy. "You're treating this as a game of hide and seek- which it basically is but a Dragon Slayer style of hide and seek. Natsu never explained that, did he."

"Um… Well… Actually… No." Wendy eventually replied feeling more and more depressed as she curled herself up into a ball. "I thought I understood what I was supposed to do but... I never really knew how I was supposed to do it."

Alastor had a strong suspicion that the Fire Dragon Slayer was too impatient to begin the game and forgotten to explain it. He had to admit, the pink haired Wizard's game was good for honing one's senses but surely Natsu would have first thought to explain it to Wendy just what she would be doing. Then again, Natsu always did prefer action over words.

"So… Does this mean I'll never learn how to be a Dragon Slayer?" Wendy asked fearing she was going to be sent back to Cait Shelter the moment Will and Natsu returned.

"Don't talk nonsense. It's just a small mistake not the end of the world." Alastor told her off. "Everyone makes mistakes now and then, even me believe it or not. It's only if you give up after making a mistake that you'll never learn and I'm pretty sure you're not a quitter. Or was what you said back at Cait Shelter just empty words?"

While probably not the best at giving pep talks compared to others, Alastor's words seemed to encourage Wendy and make her stand back up as she wiped her tear stained face ignoring the mess it made of her face paints.

"Ready to get back to hunting?" Alastor asked seeing the determined look the girl had in her eyes.

"Ready!" Wendy answered without hesitation.

* * *

Natsu was starting to get impatient. Scratch that, he had been impatient ever since finding his hiding spot an hour ago. Maybe he shouldn't have picked a place to hide so far away from Wendy. She might be a Dragon Slayer like him, but he didn't know just how refined, or unrefined, her senses were. Then again, there was the possibility that Wendy was on the trail of one of the others who had gone off in the opposite direction and could no longer pick up his scent.

Now Natsu was in a pickle. Did he come out of hiding to go find Wendy or remain hidden in case coming out of hiding revealed himself to the girl? It could just be that he was the last to be found and didn't want to upset her by coming out of hiding. But what if she had just been wandering around aimlessly because she couldn't find any of them?

"Dammit, brain! Stop thinking!" Natsu demanded quietly in case Wendy was nearby and heard him.

The sudden snap of a twig fifty metres to his left had the Fire Dragon Slayer going stiff and silent. Focusing, he could make out the sound of a child's footsteps and they were coming towards him- _straight_ towards him with no indications that whoever it was was going left or right. It was undoubtedly Wendy and it was all Natsu could do to not laugh out loud in the face of his 'Hunting' being a success.

Quietly he watched as Wendy kept coming towards him then stop briefly, tugging her head dress down over her eyes briefly before shifting it back to its former position and continue towards him. It confused Natsu slightly, especially when she did it again a few metres from where he was hiding, but that led to the confusion he was feeling by what happened next.

"Natsu's somewhere around here." She said to someone Natsu could not see from his position likely that white Happy she was partners with.

"What makes you so sure?" Asked a person Natsu had no problem identifying.

Instinctively, Natsu wanted to stand up and demand why Alastor was here and interrupting Wendy's Hunting training. Heck, how did he not even _notice_ the blue swathed Wizard until now? It's not like he was being stealthy or anything so Natsu chalked it up to being too focused on Wendy to notice she was not alone.

"The smell of paint's strong here." Wendy answered pulling her head dress over her eyes again. "It also feels warmer, not noticeably warmer but I feel like I'm getting closer to a fire I can't see. And when you spoke up, I think his heart beat sped up."

Of course his heart sped up! Natsu couldn't help but be proud of his student for using her senses to figure out his general location. She didn't find out where he was exactly, but that was fine. He was getting bored just waiting and he wanted to hurry up to phase two!

"WINNER!" Natsu popped out of his hiding spot with a flutter of leaves making Wendy squeak as he jumped out of the bushes looking more like a woodland creature than a Dragon Slayer.

"Not bad! You didn't find out where I was exactly but you got close...Why he's here I don't care." He remarked happily kneeling down to Wendy. "You pulled the headdress over your eyes to make your other senses stronger?" That was actually pretty clever.

"Yeah. Alastor said I was relying too much on my eyes to find everyone so I first tried keeping my eyes closed but I just kept tripping and falling so he suggested I use this headdress every now and again." Wendy explained as she pulled the headdress down over her eyes again.

"He did, did he?" Natsu asked using the chance to glare at Alastor while Wendy wasn't looking. He only said that he didn't care about Alastor being here for Wendy's sake. He was actually a bit ticked off that Alastor was not only here but also interfering with Wendy's training.

Alastor merely ignored the glare sent his way having been a recipient of Natsu's glare for years now. He knew the pink haired teen well enough to know he was a bit angry at him for helping Wendy out but knew that, when it came to kids around Wendy's age, he would put it aside if it helped out rather than hindered.

Thankfully, any further conversation was put on hold as Wendy suddenly dashed off leaving the two Wizards starring after her for a moment before quickly following after her.

"I just heard a splash before Wendy took off in the direction of it. She might be thinking it's Will trying to hide under water in the river up ahead." Natsu explained as the two Fairy Tail Wizards followed after Wendy from a safe distance so as not to get in her way.

"Let her explain her actions. You've been caught now so no trying to help her out." Alastor told the Fire Dragon Slayer.

"Says you. Telling her how to find me..." Natsu grumbled loud enough for Alastor to hear. " _I'm_ the teacher here not you."

Alastor just rolled his eyes. He was already going to be chewing Natsu and Will out for not telling Wendy what to do and for not looking out for her without the charcoal chewer digging himself any deeper.

Wendy meanwhile was oblivious to what was going on behind her as she ran as fast as she could in the direction of the splash she had heard adrenaline pumping through her body as the sound of running water became louder with each step she took. Bursting through some dense foliage, Wendy was awarded with the sight of a large river before feeling her foot catch on something.

Time suddenly slowed down, it felt to Wendy, as she went head first towards the water and all she could do was stare at the flowing, reflective surface that was coming closer and closer to her. Just as she was about to hit the water, time seemed to literally stop for Wendy leaving her suspended just above the flowing river's surface. Despite her surprise at what was happening to her, she was further shocked to see the surprised face of Will staring right back at her from _beneath_ the river's surface.

"I found Will!" Wendy exclaimed her excitement over finding another Dragon Slayer overcoming her shock as she looked round to Alastor and Natsu on the riverbank- the former having just managed to catch her with a levitation spell before she had literally hit the drink.

"Alright! Way to go, my apprentice! Good job!" Natsu applauded Wendy despite the fact she was hovering inches over the water.

Being the more stern Wizard out of the group however, not to mention taking things seriously, Alastor was not going to believe the mere words of a child.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" He called out to Wendy.

"Duh! Because she's a Dragon Slayer! When we look for someone, we find them!" Natsu defended irritated that Alastor was taking over his Hunting training.

Before Wendy could reply, Will's head resurfaced taking in a gulp of air to replace what she lost upon seeing Wendy hovering above her above the water's surface.

"See? She was there and Wendy found her." Natsu bragged proudly.

Responding with a roll of his eyes, Alastor brought Wendy back to the riverbank while Will waded out soaking wet while muttering under her breath about reckless young Dragon Slayers in training scaring their teachers. Back on her feet on dry land, Wendy immediately began apologising for suddenly running away from them.

"S-Sorry about that. While I was showing Natsu how I found him, I heard a splash and thought it might be Will because I know she's a Water Dragon Slayer and-"

"Don't sweat the small stuff. You found her and that's that." Natsu cut Wendy off waving a hand as if to say there was no need to explain anything.

"What the moron means is that you heard something and followed your instincts." Alastor corrected the Dragon Slayer.

"Okay. Why is Al here and why is he trying to steal our pupil away from us?" Will asked Natsu pretending that Alastor wasn't standing right there beside Natsu.

"Since her teachers were nowhere to be seen when she came face to face with a Gorian." Alastor replied before Natsu could get a word in. "Were either of you keeping an eye on her in case she ran into trouble or did you all just disappear and leave her to figure things out for herself, including how to play your stupid game?"

Despite feeling offended at hearing his training regime being called stupid, Natsu could only stare silently at the ground alongside Will. He had been so excited, not only about meeting another Dragon Slayer but also training them, that he had overlooked several details that had almost cost Wendy her life. Were Igneel around, the Dragon would beat and berate him to within an inch of his life for such sloppy standards in Dragon Slayer training of that he had no doubt.

"...I'm sorry." Wendy mumbled breaking the silence. "This is all my fault."

"No it ain't. This one's squarely on your teachers not you." Will waved off gently. "We were so in a rush to get you trained up in the basics, we didn't realise we were making a right mess of it."

"Yeah. If our Dragons could see us now and how bad we're doing, it'd make the beatings Erza and Mira give us look like we just tripped and scraped a knee." Natsu added.

"Considering how long Dragons are supposed to live for, to them you two are still kids learning the ropes yourself no doubt." Alastor commented dryly. "Now, if there's nothing more to be said, there's a hunter here who still needs to find three cats before the sun goes down."

"Ten Jewel that Wendy's cat kicks up a stink." Will commented while Wendy resumed her search for the remainder of her prey.

"You're on." Natsu agreed before the three Fairy Tail Wizards followed after the young Dragon Slayer in training.

* * *

"Where have you been, child?" Were the first irate words out of Carla's mouth the moment Wendy found her. "You took so long in finding me this horrid paint has dried into my fur."

Just like Will had predicted, Carla was in a foul state. It did not help that she had been hiding in the same spot for the past two hours while the paint slowly dried making her feel uncomfortable and sore in her more delicate areas coupled with the fact that she was the last to be found.

"Sorry, Carla." Wendy apologised although for once she was not being timid or sad like she usually was when Carla admonished her instead smiling happily from the feeling of successfully finding everyone and doing it all by herself- with the odd save from her clumsiness by Alastor or Will along the way.

Noticing this more positive aura coming from her friend, Carla found herself calming down much quicker than normal and even smiling a little much to the shock of Will and Rui.

"Well, it's not like I doubted you would succeed but I would appreciate if you could at least find me sooner if just so I can go home and wash this filth off while you found the others." Carla said a touch of pride in her voice despite still sounding like she was telling Wendy off.

"Blame Natsu. He forgot to limit the range to only a fraction of his usual hunting field." Alastor stepped in. "You're lucky he didn't have Wendy searching the whole forest for you and the others."

"The _whole_ forest?!" Wendy exclaimed in shock paling at the thought of trying to find Natsu and the others in the entire forest.

"The whole forest and further when you get to our age so long as you keep training those senses of yours." Will told the younger Dragon Slayer picking up on what Alastor was doing. "Right Natsu?"

"Huh? Oh!- Yeah! You stick with you teachers and you'll be finding people _miles_ away!" Natsu stated proudly coming out of the shock Alastor put him in with his veiled compliment.

" _AYE_!" Happy shouted in support.

"And now that you know how to properly use your senses, let's crack on with some actual-"

"Let's just call it quits for the now and get back to Fairy Tail." Alastor interrupted before Natsu could go any further. "She's here for a week so it's not like you have to cram everything into a single day."

"Says you." Natsu snorted. Dragon slayers had quite a bit more endurance to spare then normal mages. He could practice his senses and spar without breaking a sweat.

Before he could argue more or make his case, a loud noise reminiscent of thunder echoed through the area. All heads turned to Wendy, who was blushing heavily as she covered her growling stomach. It was early evening after all, and with all the excitement she had gone through this day alone it couldn't be helped if she lost track of time.

"...Fine."

* * *

 _Another chapter finally put up & just in time for my birthday. Anyways, review if possible &, until next time_

 _Watch this space & peace out!_


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